MEMS beam steering and fisheye receiving lens for LiDAR system

Abstract

The present disclosure describes a system and method for a binocular LiDAR system. The system includes a light source, a beam steering apparatus, a receiving lens, a light detector. The light source is configured to transmit a pulse of light. The beam steering apparatus is configured to steer the pulse of light in at least one of vertical and horizontal directions along an optical path. The lens is configured to direct the collected scattered light to the light detector. The electrical processing and computing device is electrically coupled to light source and the light detector. The light detector is configured to minimize the background noise. The distance to the object is based on a time difference between transmitting the light pulse and detecting scattered light.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A light detection and ranging (LiDAR) scanning system, comprising:
 a light source configured to transmit a light pulse; 
 a beam steering apparatus configured to steer the light pulse in at least one of vertical and horizontal directions along an optical path; 
 a light converging apparatus configured to direct the collected scattered light to a focal plane; 
 a light detector disposed at or in proximity to the focal plane, wherein the light detector comprises a plurality of detector segments; and 
 an electrical processing and computing device configured to:
 obtain a subset of the plurality of detector segments; 
 deactivate a particular detector segment of the plurality of detector segments, wherein the detector segment is not part of the subset of the plurality of detector segments; and 
 detect, using the subset of the plurality of detector segments, a scattered light generated based on the light pulse illuminating an object in the optical path. 
 
 
     
     
       2. The LiDAR scanning system of  claim 1 , wherein the electrical processing and computing device is further configured to determine a distance to the object based on the scattered light detected by the subset of the plurality of detector segments. 
     
     
       3. The LiDAR scanning system of  claim 2 , wherein deactivating a particular detector segment comprises: powering off the particular detector segment. 
     
     
       4. The LiDAR scanning system of  claim 2 , wherein deactivating a particular detector segment comprises:
 detecting, using the particular detector segment, a scattered light; and 
 foregoing determining a distance to the object based on the scattered light detected by the particular detector segment. 
 
     
     
       5. The LiDAR scanning system of  claim 1 , wherein the light source is a laser light source. 
     
     
       6. The LiDAR scanning system of  claim 1 , wherein the light source is configured to generate pulse signals of a predetermined wavelength range. 
     
     
       7. The LiDAR scanning system of  claim 6 , wherein the predetermined wavelength range falls into the band of atmosphere window. 
     
     
       8. The LiDAR scanning system of  claim 6 , further comprising an optical filter configured to filter pulse signals outside the predetermined wavelength range. 
     
     
       9. The LiDAR scanning system of  claim 1 , wherein the light converging apparatus comprises a wide angle receiving lens. 
     
     
       10. The LiDAR scanning system of  claim 1 , wherein the light detector is a first light detector, and wherein the LiDAR scanning system comprises a second light detector configured to receive background light. 
     
     
       11. The LiDAR scanning system of  claim 10 , the electrical processing and computing device is configured to reduce noise in a light signal received by the first light detector based on the background light received by the second light detector. 
     
     
       12. The LiDAR scanning system of  claim 11 , wherein reducing noise in the light signal received by the first light detector comprises adjusting a ratio between an output caused by background light received by the first light detector and an output caused by the background light received by the second light detector. 
     
     
       13. The LiDAR scanning system of  claim 1 , wherein the light converging apparatus is a 2D or 3D MEMS device. 
     
     
       14. The LiDAR scanning system of  claim 1 , wherein the beam steering apparatus comprises one or more micro-mirrors. 
     
     
       15. The LiDAR scanning system of  claim 1 , wherein the light converging apparatus comprises a fish eye lens. 
     
     
       16. A computer-implemented method for operating a light detection and ranging (LiDAR) system, the LiDAR system having a light source, a beam steering apparatus, and a light detector having a first detector segment and a second detector segment, the method comprising:
 transmitting, with the light source, a light pulse; 
 steering, with the beam steering apparatus, the light pulse in at least one of vertical and horizontal directions along an optical path; 
 directing, with the light converging apparatus, the collected scattered light to a focal plane; 
 obtaining a subset of the plurality of detector segments; and 
 detecting, using the subset of the plurality of detector segments, a scattered light generated based on the light pulse illuminating an object in the optical path.